Laurent wanted to thank him, but a loud ringing, accompanied by a buzzing sound, resonated from Beast.
Beast groaned, as if someone had taken away his wine, and pulled out the same black notebook, which he somehow communicated through with King earlier. Was it a magical device? Nothing would scare Laurent anymore in this strange world that had no limits on bathing water and where light sparked by the press of a finger.
“Yes?” Beast stirred and shifted his weight. “You sure? You’re only gonna scare him again.”
King’s voice resonated from the device, his voice slightly distorted. “Hope my son’s treating you well, Laurent. I wanted to apologize again for yesterday. I didn’t mean to scare you.”
Laurent leaned in closer to Beast’s hand and the black device. “Oh, no, Mr. King. I am very well. I even received new clothes from your Japanese-American girlfriend.”
King laughed good-naturedly. “Nao? She’s a hot one, isn’t she? You need to meet the other one. She makes killer Martinis.”
So close to Beast, Laurent could smell the citrus scent on him again, although it was not as potent as it had been at night. Instead, the more natural scent of flesh was almost tangible, despite there still being no tang of sweat to be noticed.
“Yes, sir. She was very nice.” Also looked like a harlot, but that didn’t need to be said. Laurent would keep an open mind about all future-related issues. After all, had Romans not worn different clothes than him? Had Louis XIV not worn a long wig, when a century later, short hair was in fashion? It did not make one time or another more or less moral.
“As far as I understand, you will be staying here for now, so I want you to make yourself feel at home. Beast will take you shopping for any shit you want.”
“You... want me to take him shopping?” Beast asked as if he weren’t sure he heard King correctly.
“But… I don’t have money, Mr. King.”
“Don’t worry about it. It’s just some basics.”
Laurent smiled, overwhelmed by this kindness, but the man was a king after all. “That is most generous, sir.”
Chapter 8 - Laurent
“If your father is King, should you not be called Prince, not Beast?” Laurent asked as they slowly made their way through a world that seemed so different from the one Laurent knew that it felt like another realm, not another time.
They were in a place Beast called the mall, and the sheer number of people walking the hallways of this palace of commerce was likely several times greater than the entire population of Brecon in Laurent’s day. The strange modern music blasted from every little store within this enormous market hall, creating a cacophony of clashing tunes with an undercurrent of loud voices, laughter, and the background buzzing that seemed like a permanent fixture in 2017. Upon Laurent’s complaints of a mild headache caused by all this commotion, Beast offered him pills that swiftly took away all the little aches in his body as well—all that without muddling Laurent’s thoughts.
And they hadn’t come here on foot either. In the future, people gave up on horsepower and used machines powered by electricity and oil to change location. Laurent had curled up for the drive despite Beast’s reassurances that it was all perfectly safe. The thing had made an ungodly noise as if startled, but worst of all, it smelled of fuel and moved so fast Laurent feared the speed itself would choke them to death. No. Even worse was the fact that there were dozens of such carriages—called cars—of all shapes and sizes, and they all moved along smooth black roads that looked like nothing Laurent could compare them to. Highways in hell maybe.
He was glad to be on solid ground, but the experience left him both exhilarated and apprehensive of all the other fears he’d surely have to conquer in this strange new world.
Beast pushed his hands into his pockets as they moved along a large hallway grander and more opulent than any Laurent had ever seen. Glass and expensive colors were everywhere, and the number of items on show seemed to have no limits. Surely, even New York city, even the wealthy cities of the Old World couldn’t have boasted such wealth in Laurent’s time.
“He’s not really a king. It’s just how we call him, because he is... the boss of the club. And I am hardly Prince Charming,” Beast said, walking alongside Laurent over the floor that has been so perfectly polished Laurent could have seen his reflection in it, were his eyes not so faulty. There were so many people here too, many of them giants, and even some of the women were of a height superior to Laurent’s. Some of the members of the fairer sex wore clothes that so clearly had been designed for men, others wore their hair short, and as much as Laurent tried not to judge this place by the standards of his own time, he found himself looking away from the tight fabrics obscenely hugging female thighs.